Our Founders

First Long Island Investors, LLC was conceived by Robert D. Rosenthal and co-founded by him and Ralph F. Palleschi in 1983. Bob Rosenthal had for a number of years been a key member of the Entenmann’s Bakery leadership team (as EVP and COO), where he successfully planned and executed a public offering and prudent estate planning in 1976, and subsequent sale in 1978, of the firm. After Entenmann’s went through its second acquisition (first to Warner Lambert and then to General Foods), Bob decided to start First Long Island Investors, LLC with Ralph, who had been Entenmann’s CFO. The Entenmann families became FLI’s first clients. The founders’ proven financial and investment expertise formed the principles of sound, long-term investment strategies which still guide the firm today and continued to be passed on to the subsequent generations of investment and wealth management executives.